Zhixiong GuoDepartment of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ 08854, USA

Resumo

In this work, the phase change composite materials were prepared by adding CNTs in a certain proportion into the melting paraffin waxes with intensive sonication. Structure and thermal properties of the composite phase change material was characterized using FTIR Spectrometer, X-ray diffractometer and differential scanning calorimetry. The composites were added into the water heater. The results showed that the thermal conductivity of the composite materials increased slightly with the increase of temperature. The thermal conductivity of the composites increased obviously when the temperature reached melting point, after this temperature the thermal conductivity of the composites began to decline. On the whole, the addition of CNTs can increase the enthalpy of phase transformation and the enthalpy of phase change, and there is no obvious change in the melting point of the composite. The addition of composite into water heater is conducive to keep temperature and energy conservation of the equipment.